Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/784

780 DELHI oughfare, is lined with gay bazaars, and is usually thronged with busy crowds. At its head, abutting on the river and defended by a broad moat, stands the imperial palace of Shah Jehan, once of almost unparalleled mag- nificence, but now filthy and neglected. It is a collection of buildings surrounded by a wall 40 ft. high and three fourths of a mile in circuit, including a private royal mosque, large gardens, and apartments for several thousand persons. Here, too, are the white marble council cham- ber with its four cupolas, and the public audi- ence hall in which stood the famous " peacock throne," formed entirely of gold and jewels, and valued at $30,000,000. The jumma musjid, or chief mosque, in Mohammedan eyes the wonder of the world, built by Shah Jehan in six years (1631-'7), stands on a paved platform 450 ft. square, on a rocky height near the centre of the city. It is approached by broad stone steps, and makes one side of a quad- rangle, the other sides of which are formed by pavilions and arcades. It is 261 ft. long, lined and faced with white marble, surmounted by three domes of the same material striped with black, and having at each end of the front a high minaret. This magnificent building has been restored of late years by the British gov- ernment. Scattered through and around the city are more than 40 other mosques, some mean Hindoo temples, and tombs of the empe- rors and Mussulman saints. The Cuttub (Kut- tub or Kutb) Minar, 9 m. S., is 242 ft. high ; and close to it is the country residence of the former emperors. Among the European build- ings are the British residency, St. James's and several missionary churches, a bank, a lunatic asylum, the courts of justice, and a government Delhi. college attended chiefly by native students. The last is managed by a council of Europeans and natives, and is divided into four depart- ments: English, Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit. There are, moreover, in and near the city, about 300 schools, besides a number of missionary schools. There are two arsenals, one outside the walls, the other within. The latter before 1857 was the most important in India, and contained 300 guns and mortars, 20,000 stand of arms, and 200,000 shot and shells, besides gunpowder and other warlike stores. The Jumna is impregnated with natron, but the city is supplied with water by a canal 70 m. long, built under Shah Jehan and restored by the British. Another, called the Doab canal, for irrigation, built by the same emperor, fed by the Jumna, and joining that river again near here after a course of 135 m., was also repaired by the British in 1830. Delhi has manufacto- ries of cotton cloths, indigo, and shawls, and carries on an active trade in silks and jewelry. The bazaar called Chadni Chauk is described as one of the best in India. The exports and im- ports of the city, exclusive of railway traffic, are valued at 3,250,000 annually. Delhi is situated on the grand trunk road from Calcutta to Lahore, being the northern terminus of the East Indian railway, and being connected with Amritsir by the Delhi railway. According to Abul Fazl, no less than seven cities have occupied the site of Delhi. The first was In- draprastha, or Indraput, where the Hindoo rajahs had their capital at least as early as the 10th century. It must have been a magnificent city, judging from its vast ruins, which over- spread the country around modern Delhi, on both sides of the river. About 1193 it was captured by Mohammed of Ghore ; and Kuttub ud-Din, a lieutenant of the victor, founded here